Consumer Reports: Deadly pain pills

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CONSUMER REPORTS -- Prescription painkillers like OxyContin, Percocet and Vicodin can make days bearable if you’re suffering, but they can be as addictive as heroin and just as deadly.

Prescriptions have soared 300 percent in the past decade. In fact, Vicodin and its generic, hydrocodone, are now the most commonly prescribed drugs in America.

46 people a day—almost 17,000 people a year—die from overdoses of opioids. And, more than 500,000 people a year are admitted to the ER because of opioid use, many unconscious or barely breathing.

With numbers like that, Consumer Reports was surprised by a recent Food and Drug Administration decision. The FDA went against the overwhelming recommendation of its own advisory committee ­­ and approved another version of hydrocodone––called Zohydro ER. Doctors have been prescribing it since March.

Consumer Reports and attorneys general from 28 states are calling for the FDA to reconsider its approval of Zohydro ER. Consumer Reports says that it offers no clear advantage over other drugs that are currently on the market, and its potency makes it yet another target for misuse and abuse.

Of course, there are cases where prescribing opioids is necessary. If you and your doctor decide your condition warrants using these potent painkillers, Consumer Reports cautions—take them exactly as directed and be certain not to combine them with sleeping pills or alcohol.

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